Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Israel agreed in principle to
release a Palestinian detainee who has been on a hunger strike
for more than two months.

Israel prosecutors reached the agreement to free Khader
Adnan in April during negotiations with the Palestinian
Authority, the Justice Ministry said in an e-mailed statement
today. In turn, Adnan decided to end his hunger strike,
Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Minister Issa Qaraqe said at a news
conference in Ramallah.

Adnan, a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad organization,
was arrested Dec. 17 at his home in the northern West Bank city
of Jenin and ordered to be held for four months under rules of
“administrative detention” that don’t require formal charges
to be filed. Israel transferred him to a hospital after his
physical condition declined.

Israel will release Adnan April 17 unless investigators
find evidence to charge him with a crime, the Justice Ministry
said. Islamic Jihad is considered a terrorist group by Israel
and the U.S.